光叶党参 guang ye dang shen

Roots carrot-shaped, 10-15 × 1-1.5 cm. Stems several from one caudex, ascending or suberect, 20-60 cm tall; branches 10-17 cm, very sparsely white hispidulous, glabrescent, those at lower part slender, sterile, those at upper part fertile. Lower and middle leaves subopposite but upper ones alternate; petiole 0.5-3 mm, glabrous or hirsute; blade ovate or lanceolate, 1-3 × 0.5-2.5 cm, abaxially sparsely hispidulous, adaxially subglabrous, base subcordate, truncate, or rounded, margin entire, recurved, apex obtuse. Flowers terminal on main stems and upper branches; pedicels sparsely hirsute, eventually glabrescent. Calyx tube adnate to ovary up to middle, semiglobose, 10-ribbed, glabrous; lobes triangular or lanceolate, 9-12 × 4-5 mm, glabrous or hispidulous, margin entire, apex obtuse; sinus between lobes acute. Corolla pale blue, with red-purple or brown-red spots, broadly campanulate, 2-3.2 × 2.3-3 cm; lobes ovate, ca. 1/2 as long as tube, inside villous, apex acute. Stamens glabrous; filaments slightly dilated at base, 6-7 mm; anthers ca. 5 mm. Capsules semiglobose below, conical above, 8-10 mm in diam.; valves 5-7 mm. Seeds brown-yellow, ellipsoid, 1-1.5 × ca. 0.5 mm, wingless. Fl. and fr. Jul-Oct.

● Grassy slopes or cliffs; 2000-2900 m. W Hubei, S Shaanxi (Foping, Huaxian, Weinan), S Shanxi (Yuanqu).